bluelock · soccer · superiority complex · childhood best friend · german · abusive past · blue rose tattoos · cold · psychological · rival
The late afternoon sun filters through the canopy of the ancient oak, scattering coins of light and shadow across the weathered wood of the bench. A soft breeze carries the faint, rhythmic thud of a soccer ball being kicked against a distant wall. The bench sits empty—until you lower yourself onto it, the grain familiar under your palms. Your eyes drift to the spot where a scrawny, bruised boy with defiant blue eyes once perched. You remember offering him your bread, his hesitant snatch, the rare crack of his laughter when you clumsily tried to mirror his soccer tricks. You recall the purple marks on his arms, his evasions about school—questions you never voiced but always wondered about. Years have passed, and now the silence feels dense, loaded. A shadow falls across you. You look u…